The Sunray Shadow story

Sunray Shadow Story

Read the fascinating story about late British salmon angler Mr. Raymond Brooks and how he through ingenuity and dedication to salmon fly fishing came to make the most famous tube fly in the world – Read how to fish with it and get inspiration to try long-winged flies this summer

The Sunray Shadow story

The Sunray Shadow or Brooks Sunray Shadow originally designed by late British salmon angler Mr. Raymond Brooks (Ray Brooks)

In the early 60´s Ray traveled through Norway to find the perfect salmon river. He did so with his wife Margit. their favorite river became the Lærdal River that runs to the Sognefjord. A river that had a historic run of big Atlantic salmon and a sea-trout.

Ray and Margit held the lease for the lærdal (Laerdal) River from 1966 until the mid 90´s when this and other rivers in the region saw a devastating outbreak and infestation of the salmon parasite Gyrodactylus salaris

The Lærdal River is gin clear and of medium size. It is in these fabulous surroundings that Ray Brooks creates the Sunray Shadow fly. The first fly was done in the early 60´s – and the Sunray tube fly soon proved so good that Ray and Margit started a production of the fly.

The flies were tied on tubes designed exclusively for the purpose, consisting of a inner and outer tube, allowing a tube fly hook to rest in the back-end of the tube. Hair from monkey was used in the design of the wing. Initially the monkey hair came out of a carpet that a fellow angler had in his living room. Later Ray made a registered pattern on the fly that he named: The Sunray Shadow.

The Sunray fly was tied commercially for the Brooks family by Danish company Lawcock and later with fly tiers in Singapore.